Warriors, Providence Skate to 1-1 Tie, Sunday's Game on ESPNU at 4 p.m.
Boxscore
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – Chris Barton (Calgary,
Alberta) scored for Merrimack, while Joe Cannata
(Wakefield, MA) stopped 32 shots in a 1-1 tie against
Providence College Saturday night at Lawler Arena.
With the tie, the Warriors are 7-18-4 overall, 3-16-3 in Hockey
East. Providence moves to 7-17-5 overall, 4-13-5 in conference.
These two teams will take the ice again Sunday at 4 p.m. at
Schneider Arena in a game televised by ESPNU.
Barton took a feed from Grant Farrell (Calgary,
Alberta) and broke past both defensemen, beating
goaltender Alex Beaudry with a shot that just snuck in for his
ninth of the season at 11:13 of the first. Joe Cucci
(Melrose Park, IL) also earned an assist on Barton's
goal.
Just 1:29 later, the Friars evened the score as Matt Bergland
gathered a loose puck to the left of Cannata and tucked it in for
his eighth of the year, assisted by Ian O'Connor and Nick
Mazzolini.
That was it for the scoring in this game despite the teams
combining for 63 shots.
Jeff Velleca (Waterbury, CT) was awarded a penalty
shot with 3:57 remaining in the first after he was hooked to the
ice by David Cavanagh while on a breakaway, but the freshman was
stopped by Beaudry, who stuck out his left pad for the big
stop.
Merrimack killed off a two-man advantage for 1:07 late in the
second period due in part to the penalty killing of John
Jamieson (Billerica, MA) as Cannata had to make just two
saves on the advantage. Those were the only penalties Merrimack
took all evening as the two teams combined for just three minor
penalties.
The Warriors outshot Providence 4-2 in overtime, with Barton
getting his team's best chance just 90 seconds into the extra
frame. His shot from left circle trickled through the pads of
Beaudry but went just wide of the net. Austin Mayer had a
point-blank scoring chance with 30 seconds remaining in overtime,
but Cannata just got a piece of it with his blocker and sent it
wide.
Beaudry finished with 29 saves, including six off the stick of
Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ontario).
